New computing concept involves metamaterials

Phys.org : Analog computing may see a rebirth with the development of metamaterials—exotic materials that can manipulate light. In theory, such a material could be used to perform a specific mathematical operation by altering light waves as they pass through it, such as converting a wave to its mathematical derivative. Current digital computers can do much the same thing, but more slowly, because they must first convert the light wave to electronic signals. So far, the idea has been tested only with computer simulations. But the research team—with members at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Sannio in Italy—now plans to test the theory in the laboratory using blocks of actual metamaterials, such as silicon or aluminum-doped zinc oxide. Such metamaterial computing could have many applications, particularly in image processing. The research group’s study was published in Science.